Charging a flat battery

rugbyman

Hello,

i have read all round me on google and gotten some good advice.

i have two cars ,each of which seems to kill batterys. both are rarely used ,so dont get much charging while driving.

Car one has killed two good, one new, batterys. i have charged away ,with several chargers, but to no avail.

in my searches i have learned that if a battery goes below 4 volts , the average charger will not work, as it thinks that there is no battery there.
The solution for this is to couple the bad battery with a good one,in parallel.

now the charger sees a battery with eight or more volts( the pair together) and charges away. i have tried this with some success.

this particular car , and partuicularly from the year it was built(google) drains batteries due to current being pulled to keep a few gizmos going. I accept that , the question is ,if left to completely flatten ,can it "kill" the battery.

I am currently using an aldi Ultimate speed ALGA2,( about fifty euro i think)

it can charge a spare battery here, but cannot charge a two month old battery that was run good and flat (starting diesel engines )

any suggestions, other than jumping in a river,

Thanks in advance

The Sidewards Man

What do you define as rarely use?

rugbyman

start once a month, drive thirty miles/ 100 miles

rugbyman

there is no doubt these two cars drain the battery. my question is whether , when the battery is flattened way down, can it be re charged , each battery is less than a year old

punisher5112

Set up a outdoor socket and set up charger or take battery out and place on trickle charge. The way your doing it no wonder batteries don't last.

The Sidewards Man

You could get very adventures and start and drive them once a week, why only once a month?

rugbyman

thank you punisher. i am aware of the two solutions.
but my question is whether the batteries are beyond re charging.

yesterday my aldi charger could charge on old battery up to 13.5 volts. it was unable to do anything with a depleted , two month old ,heavyish battery(C5),
but taking that battery to my local garage ,where the charger is very big, charged it in two hours.
am a bit baffled. ( garage owner said ,Aldi ,****)

rugbyman

sideway man, long story, work abroad every second week, am an eegit, have "quite" a few cars.( ahem)

punisher5112

rugbyman wrote: »

thank you punisher. i am aware of the two solutions.
but my question is whether the batteries are beyond re charging.

yesterday my aldi charger could charge on old battery up to 13.5 volts. it was unable to do anything with a depleted , two month old ,heavyish battery(C5),
but taking that battery to my local garage ,where the charger is very big, charged it in two hours.
am a bit baffled. ( garage owner said ,Aldi ,****)

Go to motor factors and buy a good one. They can be expensive.

I bought a lidl one never worked was useless to be honest.

The Sidewards Man

You should have returned it if it didn't work. Battery chargers arent rocket science in terms how they work and how they charge.

rugbyman

it does work, it charged a battery yesterday that was showing nine volts at first.

my question is, can a formerly good battery (like six months old) be knackered by depleting too far.

thanks

punisher5112

rugbyman wrote: »

it does work, it charged a battery yesterday that was showing nine volts at first.

my question is, can a formerly good battery (like six months old) be knackered by depleting too far.

thanks

Yes it can damage it.

If it does charge again it will become less efficient

Buona Fortuna

rugbyman wrote: »

there is no doubt these two cars drain the battery. my question is whether , when the battery is flattened way down, can it be re charged , each battery is less than a year old

I have an old tractor. It has no cab. So given our weather it doesn't get used a lot. It was completely flat the other day.

I tried charging and after a day, the charger was showing an error (battery won't charge). Tried again same thing.

Tried again and this time used the recondition programme. After 3 days the battery was fully charged.

I use one of these https://www.amazon.co.uk/CTEK-MXS-3-8-Functional-7-stage/dp/B00E5VS58Y/ref=sr_1_6?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1463982616&sr=1-6&keywords=battery+charger. I'm not sure if it is the same as the Aldi one you refer to, but it is the nutz of battery chargers. If you look at the first review by KiethB - its about three times more than I ever wanted to know about battery chargers.

Though I'm pretty sure that the next time or the time after that, I will knacker the battery.

Cerco

You can get solar panels which will trickle charge your battery. Will need to be in the open to work . They are supposed to charge even on dull days.

Might be worth getting once you have charged the battery to maintain it when car is not being driven.
Saw them in Halfords and Aldi.